Surge lifts Jay past Norwell

Once again, it took a little bit for the Patriots’ offense to get going.

When they missed, the Knights came up with the defensive rebounds.

The Patriots trailed for much of the opening half, but went into the locker room tied at 23.

For the third time in the last four games, something clicked during intermission.

The Jay County High School girls basketball team outscored Norwell 24-10 in the second half, including an 18-8 margin in the third quarter, and controlled the offensive glass in beating the Knights 47-33 Monday.

“I thought defense was key in the second half,” said JCHS coach Kirk Comer, whose team has won five straight games and moves to 13-7 on the season. “I thought we did a really good job of mixing the defenses, keeping them from being able to drive the ball to the paint, which enabled us to get out to contest their shots.

“They didn’t get any easy baskets in the second half.”

Norwell (12-8) made a free throw 15 seconds into the third period to take a 24-23 lead over the host Patriots. 

JCHS senior Britlyn Dues scored the next five points — she had two foul shots and then went the length of the floor following a steal for a layup after being fouled.

Dues finished with a dozen points to go with her four rebounds, as she was one of three Patriots to score in double figures.

Taylor Homan scored on a fast break off yet another Norwell turnover, pushing Jay County’s advantage to 30-23 and prompting Knight coach Eric Thornton into calling a timeout with 5:35 remaining in the period.

Thornton would not comment on the game.

Norwell missed on its next possession, and Homan split a pair of free throws before Hanna Ault made the lone 3-pointer for the Patriots. Jay County led 34-23 before the Knights’ Kaylee Roller answered with a triple of her own from the right wing.

Homan led all players with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Ault was second on the team with six boards.

Dues and Emily Muhlenkamp had baskets around a Norwell miss to make it 38-27, and the Knights trimmed the margin to 38-31 after consecutive shots from Logan Rowles and Breann Barger.

Kendra Muhlenkamp answered with an old-fashioned three-point play in the final minute to push the Patriots’ lead to double digits, and it stayed there for the rest of the game.

Jay County held a 32-21 advantage in rebounds, including a 15-14 edge on the offensive end. Early in the second quarter, the Patriots missed three consecutive shots before Homan corralled the rebound for putback bucket.

“When you don’t shoot a high percentage you have to be able to rebound the basketball,” said Comer, whose team hosts the Delta Eagles on Thursday. “We really worked on that and emphasized that and I think we did a really good job of that tonight.”

Jay County finished the game 17-for-44 from the field (38.3 percent) while Norwell was 13-for-37 (35.1 percent).

Early in the opening half, Norwell moved the ball along the perimeter to Roller, its outside shooter. The 5-foot, 5-inch, senior missed her first three shots but finally connected on her fourth, a swish from the right wing for a 7-4 Knight lead. Norwell was 3-for-8 in the first half from 3-point range but finished 4-for-15 (26.6 percent).

“In the first half I thought that there were some that we didn’t get to and we got lucky that they missed,” Comer said. “The second half I thought we contested most of their shots. We made their shots hard and a lot of times we only gave them one opportunity.

“I thought in the second half we did a lot better than the first half.”

That’s precisely how Jay County defeated Bluffton Jan. 6, Heritage on Tuesday in the Allen County Athletic Conference opener and South Adams on Friday in the semifinal.

Ault contributed 11 points to give Jay County three players in double figures, a sight Comer likes to see.

“That is the third or fourth game in a row we’ve had three girls in double figures,” he said. “That is a goal. It makes (us) harder to guard. We’re just playing with more and more confidence right now.

“That was a good win for us.”

 

Junior varsity

Jay County fought to tie the score at 47 with less than two minutes remaining but had its offense go stagnant from there in a 55-47 loss.

Hanna Dillon led the Patriots with 14 points, and Sam Twigg was second on the team with nine. Mikele Suman and Hannah Phillips contributed seven points apiece, while Claire Dirksen chipped in six points and Hallie Fields added four, including the game-tying bucket with under two minutes to play.

The Patriots fall to 16-3 on the year.